The Office of the Ombudsman is an independent officer of Parliament appointed under Section 66 of the Antigua and Barbuda Constitution. It is accredited as a national human rights institution (NHRI) but with the lowest ('C') status accorded by the International Co-ordinating Committee of NHRIs (ICC). It has only limited participation in the regional NHRI network, the Network of National Institutions in the Americas. Like most ombudsman offices it is primarily concerned with addressing maladministration in public bodies, rather than human rights violations.